One Wisconsinite that definitely knew what was going on was U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. Let's go back to this excellent Bruce Murphy article in Urban Milwaukee from January where Murphy pieced together published reports to show that Johnson (and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan) was aware of potential Russian interference before the November elections, but covered that up to Wisconsin voters.

The details of the mid-September meeting are in a story by the Washington Post, which reported that President Barack Obama had dispatched his counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, FBI Director James B. Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson “to make the pitch for a ‘show of solidarity and bipartisan unity’ against Russian interference in the election,” as a senior administration official told the Post.

As chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Johnson was one the so-called “Gang of 12,” the top 12 congressional leaders, who were invited to the meeting. (House Speaker Paul Ryan also attended the meeting.) Johnson later confirmed to Politico that he participated in the briefing....

Russia’s interference with the American elections fit the pattern of a country engaged in disinformation and destabilization efforts across the globe, as Johnson has described it. And Russia’s leader was someone Johnson already suspected of nefarious acts. Johnson had previously sponsored resolutions calling for a full investigation into the murder of a Russian political opposition leader and for an investigation of Russia’s attacks on the Ukraine....

After the CIA publicly released a report in January concluding that Russia meddled in the presidential election to help Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election, Johnson issued a statement to the Wisconsin State Journal saying he would “would need more definitive information before drawing further conclusions.” Johnson did not reveal that he had been informed back in September this was happening.

Johnson went on to complain to CNBC that the CIA refused to brief him on Russian hacking, saying “I have not seen the evidence that it actually was Russia,” while failing to note the CIA report’s echoed the briefing he’d received from other intelligence leaders in September.

This September meeting is also infamous for a reported moment where the Obama Administration recommended that both Republicans and Democrats go public with what they knew about Russian interference, and GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would not go along, and whined that any attempt to go public on Russian interference would be slanting the election toward Democrats and Hillary Clinton.

Guccifer 2.0 even posted a cache of confidential documents focusing on Representative Ben Ray Luján, Democrat of New Mexico, the chairman of the D.C.C.C., who faced no serious challenger this year. Mr. Luján said it was a clear effort to send a message to the party leadership — that the hackers wanted to try to hurt Democrats at all levels of the party, from lesser known races in Florida to the leadership.

After the first political advertisement appeared using the hacked material, Mr. Luján wrote a letter to his Republican counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee urging him to not use this stolen material in the 2016 campaign.

“The N.R.C.C.’s use of documents stolen by the Russians plays right into the hands of one of the United States’ most dangerous adversaries,” Mr. Luján’s Aug. 29 letter said. “Put simply, if this action continues, the N.R.C.C. will be complicit in aiding the Russian government in its effort to influence American elections.”

[Dem House Leader Nancy] Pelosi sent a similar letter in early September to Mr. Ryan. Neither received a response. By October, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a “super PAC” tied to Mr. Ryan, had used the stolen material in another advertisement, attacking [Dem candidate Joe] Garcia during the general election in Florida.

You want to know why Ryan isn't calling for a full-fledged investigation to get to the bottom of this Russian intereference? That story might explain a lot.

And yes, the Wisconsin connections to Russian interference go all the way down to the state level. Dem operative Scott Dworkin re-tweeted something this week regarding another bit of potential 2016 campaign money-laundering, which was done to back a one-time candidate for the GOP presidential nomination (before he hilariously flamed out in 10 weeks).

So far, I haven't seen Wisconsin media follow up on these connections and knowledge of Russian interference to Rep. Ryan, Sen. Johnson and Governor Walker. Given that the details are coming public by the day, and given that it's conceivable Walker would run for an open 2020 presidential seat (even if he loses in Wisconsin in 2018, or bails out before that election), maybe it's time for Wisconsin media to step up and take the #TrumpRussia angle local.

About Me

This cat's a 40-something libation-enjoying gabber still trying to do the right thing. Watch his crazy adventures as he works and stumbles his way through the great world of public service in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, while keeping tabs on Bucky Badger and the next Great Depression. I'm told I'm big in Oshkosh.